Title

Holey Apple Snow White

Broad Question

Does certain liquids affect apples

Specific Question

Does certain PH levels affect the rotting of an apple?

Hypothesis

It is hypothesized that apples that are soaking in liquids with higher PH levels will preserve the apple than a lower PH level liquid.

I think that because I did a test trial before I decided that this would become my Science Fair project. I poked pen sized holes in two apple then I put on of them in apple vinegar then the other went into milk. 5 days later I took them out and discovered that the milk preserved the apple better than the one that was in apple vinegar (it was completely rotted through with discoloration of brown while the other apple just smelled of spoiled milk).

Graph of Hypothesis

Variables

Independent Variable:

The different PH liquids the apples are soaking in.

Dependent Variable:

How much the apple rots

Variables That Need To Be Controlled:

The bleach, orange juice and the water

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation

PH level- measuring the alkaline and acid in various liquids

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General Plan

Potential Problems And Solutions

other bacteria might get into the Tupperware which would speed up the decomposing process. The solution to this would be to put cling wrap on the top of the Tupperware.

Safety Or Environmental Concerns

I will need gloves while handling the bleach

Experimental Design

Take the 9 apples and split them up into three groups of three, poke holes in all of the apples. Then fill a 3 Tupperware with water and put an apple in each of them do the same for the bleach and orange juice. Then put the Tupperware filled with the liquids and apples in a place where they will not be disturbed and leave them there for a week. After it has been a week, start pulling the apples of the Tupperware and cut them open and measure how much discoloration that has gone deep into the apple. Also take some observations and pictures about the apples included so things that were not on the other apples.

Resources and Budget Table

Item	Number needed	Where I will get this	Cost
Apple	9	Grocery Store	$ 7.25
Plastic Tupperware	9	Dollar Store	$9.00
Orange Juice	1	Grocery Store	2.49
Bleach	1	Grocery Store	2.79
Ruler	1	My House	2.00

Detailed Procedure

1. Go buy 9 apples relatively all the same size and the same type of apple.
2. Go buy a small jug of orange juice, and a jug of bleach.
3. Take the 9 apples out and poke holes all over with a pen not really consist with the holes
4. Get 9 bowls are that are same the size get them ready so that the apples and liquids can be put in.
5. Get water from the tap.
6.Pour water into three bowls about midway in the bowl, relatively all the same size.
7. Put three apples in the three bowls filled with water.
8. Pour orange juice in three bowls all relatively the same size.
9. Put three apples in the three bowls filled with orange juice.
10. Pour bleach into three bowls relatively the same size (be very careful not to smell it, it will give you a headache
11. Put three apples in the three bowls filled with bleach.
12. Move all the bowls to an area where they will not be disturbed and be in a place that has the same temperature as the rest of your house about 72 and leave them there for a week.
13. After it has been a week, take the apples out of the liquids one at a time( You might need to use a face mask if you do not like the smell of apples in the process of rotting. You also might need mittens or somethings on your hands so that bleach will not get on your hands)
14. Cut open the apples side to side and see if there are any discoloration(rotting,dissolving, fungi etc..)
15. Write your the measurements down in millimeters to see how deep the discoloration is and take additional observations.
16. Take pictures of some apples of all angles
17. Immediately throw the apples out (make sure you triple bag) also pour the liquids down the sink be careful with the bleach

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Data Table

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Data Analysis

Graphs

Photos

An apple with holes

An apple with Holes

An Apple that has been soaking in Bleach

A apple that has been in Orange Juice cut open

Results

The average brown depth for the orange juice trials 2.6 mm, the water trials 5.8 mm, and the bleach trials 3.6 mm. The apple in the the water trials had the highest average brown depth, so the water (PH level 7) affected the apples more than the other liquids. The orange juice was the least liquid that affected the apples in some cases the apple was still edible.

Conclusion

The experiment was designed to see what PH levels in liquids affected apples. The results show that water didn’t preserve much of the apple most of the apples in that trial was rotted to the core. The bleach turned the apple into a very soft apple and dissolved some of the skin and was very toxic. The orange juice least affected the apple in some of the trials they were still edible looking.

Discussion

The experiment question was “Does certain liquids affect apples?”. The results of the experiment concluded that water (PH level 7) affected the apple more than the other two liquids I used. The liquid that least affected the apple was orange juice in some cases the apple was still edible in some places. The bleach made the apple all mush and dissolved the skin of the apples in some places.
It is hypothesized that apples that are soaking in liquids with higher PH levels will preserve the apple than a lower PH level liquid. The hypothesis was wrong, the lower the PH level the more it preserve the apple. The PH level in liquid did affect the rotting with an apple. With bleach, it dissolved some of the skin so in some places, it was translucent. The entire apple was very soft and completely rotted and very toxic. The water didn’t dissolve the skin of the apple but where the holes where it was rotted. The orange juice preserved the apple more than the other liquids. It did grow strange orange mold, but the surface of the apple was very firm. When the apple was cut open it had orange streaks in it where the holes were. All the orange juice apples were edible, but were not tested due to a possible health risk.
The bleach ones were all the same brown, dissolved skin. The water one were almost the same one at other three apples that were in water grew green mold on the surface of that particular apple. There was a strong cause and effect with the independent and the dependent variable, because the lower the PH level in a liquid the least the apple rot, the higher PH level in a liquid would cause the apple to rot more.
There has been no similar experiments to the one that has been conducted. Bacteria was taken into consideration also because the apples were left in the open while soaking in different liquids. In the research that was done for this project, there was this one piece saying how bacteria could not survive in a PH level of 13. 1 of the three liquids used for this experiment was bleach which had a PH level of 13, it would quickly make the apple rot more. Some of the challenges of this experiment were the bleach because it is a safety hazard, so for the bleach to be carefully handled gloves were needed. If this experiment was ever done again, there would be something done differently this time. There would be a precise amount of number of holes poked in each apple and when there are soaking in liquids there should have been cling wrap on top of it to prevent any bacteria from interfering with project.
There was no specialized information or technology needed to conduct this experiment. How this could benefit people is that they can store apples or fruit in liquids and not have to worry if they rot or not, or use sugar syrup to preserve them. If the experiment was continued maybe in the future they might find a way to preserve other things in liquids and do not have to worry that they will go bad. We could also preserve other thing maybe something that was as small as a molecular. The other questions that could be brought up by this experiment is could the pH level in other liquids affect different things and there probably many other questions scientist can come up with and other experiments.

Background Research

There are some liquids used for preserving which are used in a process of Pickling. The liquids they used are vinegar, brine and alcohol for preserving some types of meat, cucumber and other vegetables but not fruit.
There is a certain way to preserve fruit a process called sugaring which fruits are preserved in a sugary syrup, unfortunately it collects all the moisture from the fruit over a period of time.
The sugary syrup that is in most canned fruit containers do not preserve the fruit at all but water and juice to preserve most fruit.
An apple has more acidity than other fruits.

Low ph levels do not make an apple brown juices like apple,orange,grape does not affect an apple nor taste and it can preserve an apple for a short period of time. All liquids with a ph level of 3.0 can preserve an apple
Cutting an apple or the skin is broken can cause the apple to rot more quickly than it just being left alone.
Water can dissolve an apple over a period of time, but it would not rot.
Some types of bacteria cannot survive in higher ph levels
Most Bacteria survive in PH levels of 5-9 which humans can survive but they can not survive in bleach, PH level 13
Bacteria can live and multiply in PH levels of 5 to 8
Most organism can survive ph levels as low as 2 except for bacteria
Pathogenic bacteria need water to survive ph level of 7
If bleach is sprayed on a fruit it would keep the mold down
Bleach can affect an apple it would make it very soft
The approximate PH level of an apple is 3.3 to 3.9 it also depends on the type of apple it is.
A apple in a fridge for 7 days will rot, if bitten of slice open it and not in the fridge could take 3 1/2 hours to 4 hours.

References

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Abstract

The purpose of this experiment was to find out how does certain pH levels affect the rotting of an apple. It was hypothesized. There was three apples for each liquid (3) and they were poked with holes and then soaked in the liquids for a week and then would measure discoloration depth by cutting the apple in half. The average results were for bleach 3.6mm, orange juice 2.6mm and water 5.8mm. The answer experiment question was that pH levels in liquids doe affect the rotting of an apple.